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Striking a Balance: the Efforts of One Massachusetts City to Draft an Effective Anti-Loitering Law Within the Bounds of the Constitution

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Striking a Balance: the Efforts of One Massachusetts City to Draft an Effective Anti-Loitering Law Within the Bounds of the Constitution ROSSI_NOTE_FINAL.DOC 5/17/2006 5:56 PM Striking a Balance: The Efforts of One Massachusetts City to Draft an Effective Anti-Loitering Law Within the Bounds of the Constitution “It’s an icy evening, and Herrzon and Carlos, crouching in a Burger King booth, slouch somewhere inside hooded sweatshirts and oversized jeans, beneath wool hats that obscure young, scowling faces. There is a gang problem in East Somerville [Massachusetts], but these two say they’re only afraid of police. The stories they recount are echoed by a growing chorus of male Latino youths: complaints of frequent police interrogations, alleged threats of deportation, and accusations of gang membership.”1 I. INTRODUCTION In August of 2004, Massachusetts Acting Governor Kerry Healey signed into law a “gang loitering” bill that made Somerville the first city in the state where gang members could be arrested for disobeying a police officer’s order to disperse from designated public places.”2 The impetus for the law dates back to October of 2002, when individuals associated with a nationwide street gang known as MS-13 brutally raped two disabled teenage girls in a Somerville park.3 At the time of the incident, MS-13 had been tied to a wave of violent assaults against Somerville residents and was estimated to have roughly 100 members in the area.4 As residents grew increasingly concerned for their safety, Somerville’s governing Board of Alderman approved a sweeping anti- loitering ordinance, which has sparked debate over the constitutionality of such 1. Benjamin Gedan, Closely Watched Latinos Weary of the Attention, BOSTON GLOBE, Dec. 22, 2002, (City Weekly), at 10. 2. H.B. 5045, 183d Gen. Ct., Reg. Sess. § 1(a) (Mass. 2004). Somerville is a city located in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, just north of Boston. See About Somerville, http://www.ci.somerville.ma.us/aboutsomerville.cfm (last visited Feb. 22, 2006). According to the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 77,478. Id.; see also infra note 3 (discussing passage of state law). 3. Press Release, Commonw. of Mass., Executive Dep’t, Lt. Gov. Healey Signs Bill Cracking Down on Somerville Gangs (Aug. 26, 2004) (on file with author) [hereinafter Commonwealth] (noting events preceding passage of Somerville anti-loitering ordinance). MS-13 is an international Latino gang that started in El Salvador and has developed increasing strength in the Northeast. Hillary Chabot, City Seeks to Calm MS-13 Fears After Gang Rape, SOMERVILLE J., Oct. 31, 2002 (explaining origins and background of MS-13 gang). MS-13 gang members have lived in Somerville since at least the mid-to-late 1990s, but gang-related incidents increased in the years leading up to the passage of the ordinance in 2002. Id.; see also infra note 26 (detailing criminal activities of MS-13 gang in Somerville and nationwide). 4. Commonwealth, supra note 3 (drawing connection between increased presence of MS-13 street gang and violence in area). ROSSI_NOTE_FINAL.DOC 5/17/2006 5:56 PM 1070 SUFFOLK UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEW [Vol. XXXIX:1069 measures and their effectiveness in curbing violent gang activity.5 The ordinance authorizes Somerville police officers to warn criminal street gang members, caught loitering in designated areas of the city, that they must disperse immediately.6 Officers may arrest those who disobey the order, or who return to the same location within three hours of the warning.7 In light of concerns from Latino residents that the ordinance unfairly targets members of their communities, lawmakers took steps to ensure that the measure is narrow in scope, and not susceptible to arbitrary police enforcement.8 Each Somerville police cruiser is equipped with a list of suspected gang members, including names and photographs, that officers must consult before approaching any individual whom the officer believes may be violating the law.9 The ordinance also requires the police chief to designate specific locations for enforcement, such as particular parks, street corners or neighborhoods.10 Finally, the mayor appointed an advisory board to help train police and oversee enforcement before the law went into effect.11 Despite these precautions the Latino population is skeptical, and while no lawsuits have been filed to date, immigrant groups have predicted legal trouble for the city and have pledged to call attention to any improper enforcement of the ordinance.12 A number of other municipalities have passed anti-loitering statutes in an effort to curb criminal activity, though few have survived constitutional challenges.13 In the seminal case of City of Chicago v. Morales,14 the United 5. Benjamin Gedan, Law Targets Gangs in Somerville; Activists Fear Racial Profiling, BOSTON GLOBE, Aug. 27, 2004, at B1 (describing sentiments of city leaders and activists concerned about public safety and discriminatory enforcement). The Board of Aldermen is the city’s legislative branch and is responsible for adopting ordinances and regulations on a broad range of issues. See City of Somerville, http://www.ci.somerville.ma.us/Department.cfm?orgunit=aldermen (last visited Feb. 22, 2006). The Board gave preliminary approval to the gang loitering ordinance in December, 2002. Bridget Samburg, Gang Law Goes Back, BOSTON GLOBE, Feb. 29, 2004, (City Weekly) at B9. 6. H.B. 5045, 183d Gen. Ct., Reg. Sess. § 1(a) (Mass. 2004) (permitting police to target suspected gang members for loitering). 7. Id. (explaining procedures police must follow when enforcing ordinance). A first time offender faces a fine of up to $500 as well as a possible prison sentence of up to six months. Id. A mandatory minimum five- day jail sentence is imposed for all second and subsequent offenses. Id. 8. See Gedan, supra note 5, at B1 (describing policymakers’ response to concerns of arbitrary police enforcement of ordinance); see also infra notes 83-86 and accompanying text (discussing ordinance provisions limiting police discretion). 9. Gedan, supra note 5, at B1 (detailing procedure police officers use to identify gang members); see also H.B. 5045, 183d Gen. Ct., Reg. Sess. § 1(c)(3) (Mass. 2004) (requiring police chief to promulgate procedures to identify current members of criminal street gangs). 10. H.B. 5045, 183d Gen. Ct., Reg. Sess. § 1(b) (Mass. 2004) (requiring police chief to determine areas of Somerville where enforcement of ordinance necessary). 11. Id. (establishing gang-advisory board to ensure proper enforcement of ordinance). 12. Gedan, supra note 5, at B1 (detailing activists’ response to ordinance). 13. See, e.g., Kolender v. Lawson, 461 U.S. 352 (1983) (striking down loitering statute as unconstitutionally vague and susceptible to arbitrary enforcement); Papachristou v. City of Jacksonville, 405 U.S. 156 (1972) (holding vagrancy ordinance void for vagueness because for failing to provide notice of forbidden conduct); Coates v. City of Cincinnati, 402 U.S. 611 (1971) (invalidating loitering ordinance for failing to specify standard of conduct); see also infra notes 34-43 and accompanying text (discussing legal ROSSI_NOTE_FINAL.DOC 5/17/2006 5:56 PM 2006] ANTI-LOITERING LAW 1071 States Supreme Court struck down an anti-loitering statute aimed at curbing gang violence in Chicago as void-for-vagueness under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.15 The Court, however, produced six different opinions and failed to articulate a coherent decision on whether the activity of loitering is a constitutionally-protected, individual liberty interest.16 Consequently, the possibility remains that a more precisely worded anti- loitering ordinance would pass constitutional muster.17 In a concurring opinion, Justice O’Connor described in some detail how the Chicago City Council could have drafted its ordinance to withstand constitutional scrutiny, providing a roadmap for other communities looking to adopt similar measures in response to gang violence.18 After Morales, general loitering and drug zone ordinances faced renewed vulnerability in state and federal courts, while more narrow, public-order measures aimed at behavior other than loitering have generally been upheld.19 These decisions form a framework within which to evaluate the Somerville ordinance, and to consider whether lawmakers struck a constitutionally permissible balance between public safety and individual freedom.20 After examining the constitutional doctrines that typically pertain to anti-loitering ordinances, this Note will compare provisions of the Somerville ordinance to similar laws of varying success.21 A consideration of the expanded definitions of culpable conduct, the specific dispersal order and the robust safeguards against arbitrary police enforcement included in the Somerville measure will ultimately suggest that the law would likely survive a constitutional challenge where others have failed. history of anti-loitering ordinances). 14. 527 U.S. 41 (1999). 15. Id. at 59-60 (determining Chicago gang congregation ordinance failed to provide adequate notice of prohibited conduct). 16. Angela L. Clark, City of Chicago v. Morales: Sacrificing Individual Liberty Interests for Community Safety, 31 LOY. U. CHI. L.J. 113, 114 (1999) (noting lack of consensus in Morales); see also infra Part II.C.1 (discussing Morales decision generally). 17. See Clark, supra note 16, at 148 (speculating on Court’s willingness to accept validity of more specific anti-loitering ordinance). 18. Morales, 527 U.S. at 65-68 (O’Connor, J., concurring) (offering suggestions for constitutionally acceptable provisions of anti-loitering ordinance); see infra notes 71-76 and accompanying text (detailing Justice O’Connor’s recommendations). 19. Kim Strosnider, Note, Anti-Gang Ordinances After City of Chicago v. Morales: The Intersection of Race, Vagueness Doctrine, and Equal Protection in the Criminal Law, 39 AM. CRIM. L. REV. 101, 126 (2002) (linking scope of anti-loitering ordinances to their success in passing constitutional muster); see infra notes 77- 81 and accompanying text (comparing varying success of loitering ordinances post-Morales). 20. See infra Part III.A-B (discussing Somerville ordinance in light of similar measures challenged after Morales).
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